Duality Of Time
by The Cat's Paw
Summary: After travelling back in time, Obito and Kakashi must work together to avoid the future that they'd come from. Only thing is, they both have different ideas on how to go about it. Will they ever be able to agree on what to do, or will they stuff everything up with their lack of team work? Time travel. No pairings.
1. Chapter 1

**So… A new story, huh? Well, it's something at least, after a long period of writer's block. Still, enjoy! ;)**

**Disclaimer goes here…**

_**Duality Of Time**_

**Chapter One**

Obito sat on the edge of the roof, legs dangling as he watched the people below going by about their business. Munching on the dango he'd bought at the stall earlier, he kept his eyes peeled for one person in particular, who'd been behaving rather oddly lately. Normally, Kakashi was such a stick-in-the-mud, rule obsessed moron, but a few weeks ago, he'd had an apparent personality switch. Oh, he'd tried to hide it, and he'd definitely fooled Rin, and sensei too, kinda.

But Obito was on to him.

The Bakashi usually came along this route at this time of day, which was after morning training, and before afternoon D-rank assignments. Without fail, he'd go to the same food stall for his lunch, Ichiraku's, and today was no different. He was already there right now, and had to come this way in order to head back to the training grounds, where their team would meet with sensei before heading up to the mission's desk for their D-rank.

Ah-ha! Speak of the _oni_! Kakashi was walking along the road, an outward appearance of the boy he was _supposed_ to be projected around him. Ha! Big fat liar! Obito _knew_ that it was all an act, and soon, the jig would be _up_! Swallowing the last of his dango, he positioned himself in a crouch, and leapt down in front of his team mate, who didn't even startle at his presence, to Obito's disappointment.

"Bakashi," Obito greeted.

"Stalker," Kakashi replied, and Obito scowled, even if it had been a bit true lately.

"Shut up!" he yelled. "I'm no stalker! Besides, we've got to go meet with Rin and sensei! Can't have you being late like you were yesterday. And the day before. The one before that, too."

Kakashi just rolled his eyes. "Whatever, dead last," he said, ignoring Obito's glare. "Let's just get going."

As they walked together, Obito kept stealing glances at his team mate. Kakashi, pretending not to notice of course, just walked stoically beside him all the way to the training ground, where sensei and Rin had yet to show up. Obito settled in on his favourite stump to wait, while Kakashi leaned against a tree that had countless kunai scratches on it.

Cocking his head at his team mate, Obito studied Kakashi's posture. The poor guy really was trying to act like nothing was wrong, but he saw it all. The guardedness had changed in nature, going from 'Stay away or I'll gut you' to 'I want to let you in, but how can I trust you won't hurt me again'. Obito sighed, feeling quite responsible for a whole lot of that.

Kakashi glanced over at him, and Obito stuck out his tongue. He felt inordinately pleased at the 'look' the baka then gave him, before he went right back to ignoring him. Obito frowned, not that pleased with being ignored. Sighing again, he figured it was time to amp things up a bit, see if Kakashi would crack and spill all.

"So, what mission do you think we'll get today?" he asked. "Helping the orphanage with their grocery run? Fixing old man Tanaka's roof? Yes, it got wrecked again. Or maybe we'll be sent off to catch that cat that keeps running off from the Daimyo's new wife, what's it's name? Oh, right, Tora the Second. Or maybe we'll actually get out of the village on a courier run. Nah… those are generally handed out in the mornings. So, what do you think, Bakashi?"

Kakashi was giving him another 'look'. "What?" Obito asked. "Just wondering. I mean, what else could we be doing? Well, there is the old bridge over in the north eastern section that they want demolished…"

Ha! A reaction! Kakashi stiffened ever so slightly at the mention of destroying a bridge! But finding out why would only be half the fun, Obito still had more tricks up his sleeve, so to speak.

"What?" he asked. "That bridge is a hazard! Did you know three kids fell off it last week, and straight into the water below? Lucky thing we're in the middle of summer dry spell, and the water wasn't very deep. But… if you don't want to do that, maybe sensei could get us a different mission, if necessary."

"…Why are you talking to me like this?" Kakashi asked. "You never have before."

"What? I can't want to try to get along with my team mate?" Obito asked, askance. "We're gonna go on missions where our lives will be in each other's hands, y'know! We should at least not be _antagonistic_ towards each other!"

"Why would I want to get along with a cry-baby ninja?" Kakashi practically sneered, and if he'd said almost anything else, it wouldn't have affected Obito, and he would have seen that Kakashi's heart hadn't really been in the insult.

"I am _not_ a cry-baby!" Obito practically bellowed, leaping up to his feet. "Just because you're an emotionally stunted asshole, doesn't mean that anyone who shows even the slightest bit of emotion is a _cry-baby_!"

Kakashi stood before him, absolutely stunned. Obito breathed deeply to calm himself, then noted the way that he was being stared at was more than just the typical 'you're acting weird, stop it' kind of look he'd sometimes get from Kakashi,_especially_ lately.

"What are you staring at?" he asked belligerently.

"Your eyes…" Kakashi breathed, and Obito started at that.

"What about them?"

"…You activated your sharingan," was the answer. "_Three_ tomoes!"

"What of it?" Obito snapped. "I got them _months_ ago."

"No," Kakashi denied almost immediately. "No, that isn't supposed to happen. It's not supposed to be like this. You weren't supposed to get them until…"

He cut off when he realised what he was saying, but Obito's curiosity was piqued. "What do you mean by that, Bakashi?" he asked carefully, wondering if _now_ was when he was going to get his big windfall that he'd been chasing.

Kakashi just shook his head, refusing to speak, so Obito knew that it was up to him to get the secret out. "When was I supposed to get my sharingan?" he asked, pushing further. "Is there some sort of timetable you're not telling me about? Does this have anything to do with your apparent fear of wrecking bridges?"

A small twitch and Obito knew he'd hit the jackpot. "It doesn't matter, I guess," he said. "I mean, if you really do have such a phobia, the Yamanaka have some techniques, like hypnosis, that could help you. Heck, even a genjutsu to bring you peace and happiness could…"

"NO!"

Obito was startled at the vehemence of Kakashi's suddenly denial.

"No genjutsu would _ever_ bring eternal peace!" he raged.

"I never said anything about eternal peace," Obito said. "Maybe infinite…"

Suddenly Kakashi's kunai was against his throat. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't," he growled. "One reason _not_ to end you right now, make sure that the future is safe from you."

Despite the kunai at his throat, Obito grinned. "Because, Bakashi," he said, "you're gonna need all the help you can get when it comes to Madara and Zetsu."

Kakashi dropped the kunai in shock.

"I knew it was you, Bakashi!" Obito crowed in triumph.

**So what did you think? Review please! :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**New chapter! Yay!**

**Disclaimer that I don't own these characters goes here. :P**

**Chapter Two**

Silence.

"…You don't have anything to say, Bakashi?" Obito asked.

Still more silence.

"Not even a 'Hi there, Obito! Let's work together to kick Zetsu's ass!'?"

Narrowed eyes, but still, the baka remained silent.

"Oh, come on, Bakashi!" Obito yelled. "Give me _something_! I mean, seriously! Do you have any idea how annoying it's been, waiting for you to 'turn up' and remember? I've been here months, you baka! _Months_! It's been a few weeks since you arrived, don't you have _anything_ planned yet? You're supposed to be a genius, y'know!"

Arms crossed over the chest, and now… Now he was being ignored! No! Forget that!

"Fine!" Obito huffed. "I guess I'll just do it myself. Who needs a stupid genius who can't even keep their promises to their so-called friends, anyway?"

Kakashi glared at him.

Obito glared right back.

A moment later, a fist was headed straight for him, which ended up with both Obito and Kakashi embroiled in an all out brawl. It wasn't very dignified, the way they kicked, punched, and bit. That elbow in Obito's face was pure spite, and he retaliated by pulling Kakashi's hair, who then proceeded to _bite_ him. Considering they were being trained up as 'professional' soldiers, they sure weren't fighting like it.

Suddenly, there was a pair of hands grabbing each of them and forcefully separating them. Obito still tried to kick out at the baka, who'd gone still at their separation.

"Obito, stop it," came their Sensei's voice, and the Uchiha looked up into stern blue eyes.

Reluctantly, Obito stopped thrashing, though he made sure to give Kakashi the stink eye. He was rather satisfied to see the bruises he'd inflicted, as well as the small bit of blood staining his mask, where he was sure the baka had a split lip. But then, Obito wasn't unscathed himself, he was pretty sure he was on his way to a concussion, and his nose might be a bit broken too. He looked around and found Rin there also, eyes staring judgementally at them both.

She sighed. "Honestly, you two," she said, even as she came over to heal them, Minato-sensei releasing them finally.

Once they were patched up, Sensei stared at them, arms crossed and lips pursed. "Do I even want to know what that was about?" he asked.

"Bakashi started it," Obito pouted. "He punched me first."

Minato-sensei just shook his head at both of them. "The two of you…" he said. "Sometimes, I just don't know what to do with you. Both of you are team mates, you're here to train to fight the enemy, not each other."

"Sorry, Sensei," Kakashi apologised, eyes downcast.

Obito frowned at him, then at Minato-sensei, then at Rin. Finally he sighed, and said, "Yeah, sorry Sensei. Rin too. And Bakashi, I guess."

"Alright," Minato-sensei moved on. "I _was_ going to get us a mission out of the village today, but I think a little more training might be in order. For you two boys, at least. So then… Rin, you and Obito spar, Kakashi with me. Halfway, we'll swap to Obito with me, Kakashi with Rin. Alright?"

They all nodded, then Sensei lead Kakashi over to the far end of the training ground, where they immediately got into a fighting stance. Obito looked over at Rin, blushed awkwardly at the way she was _staring_ at him, then forced that back, because to him, he was mentally _waaay_ too old for her, the only drawback to being back here, really.

Maybe when they turned eighteen he wouldn't feel like a dirty old man at the thought of that sort of thing…

They bowed, got into fighting stances, and then Rin attacked. In more ways than one.

"So, what was that _really_ about, 'Bito?" she asked after awhile. "And don't feed me some line you'd give Sensei."

"Really?" Obito asked incredulously as he dodged one of Rin's attacks. "You wanna _talk_ while sparring?"

"If you can't multi-task and throw off distractions in a fight, then you definitely need more training," Rin told him, and he knew that she was quoting Minato-sensei.

He sighed, and explained, "Y'know how the Bakashi's been all weird lately? Showing up late? Not putting me down in spars? Well, I've kinda been… following him around, trying to figure out why."

"So you've been stalking him?" Rin asked, amused even as she dodged one of Obito's kicks.

"Not you too!" Obito complained, pointing an accusing finger at her even as she grinned at him. "I'm not Bakashi's _stalker_! I was just concerned! Besides," here he gave a cheeky grin, "I would _never_ take Gai's place in Kakashi's life like that!"

Rin's eyes widened and Obito could see she was trying not to laugh, but wasn't doing a very good job of it. "That's mean, Obito-kun!" she said fondly once she got control back, then gasped in indignation when she realised a grinning Obito had his kunai at her back. "And that's a cheap shot!"

"Ninja," Obito said unashamedly as he stepped back and their spar ended. "Besides, didn't _you_ just say not to be distracted in spars?"

She poked her tongue at him.

"Seriously, though," she said. "What was with that fight?"

Obito sighed. "We had some words," he admitted. "Bakashi attacked when I said he couldn't keep promises to friends. Sheesh! Who knew _that_ would be such a sore spot?"

Rin sighed and shook her head, and the two waited until Minato-sensei and Kakashi were done with their spar.

"Who won?" Sensei asked when they came over.

"Obito," Rin declared. "He cheated, though."

Obito spluttered. "I _did not_!" he exclaimed, then crossed his arms in a huff when he saw the amused look in Rin and Sensei's eyes.

"Alright, alright, settle now," Minato-sensei said. "Obito, you're with me."

Obito followed his Sensei, glancing back briefly to see Rin approach a rather ruffled looking Kakashi. Frowning, Obito turned his attention back to his Sensei, wondering what he had in store for him.

"A few ground rules," Minato-sensei said. "No sharingan," and when Obito was about to protest, made the concession, "I won't use hiraishin, either. No ninjutsu also, I want this to be a straight up taijutsu match, alright? Good. Let's get started then."

What followed was a titanic (in Obito's opinion, but probably not in reality) battle that was on par with the ultimate struggle of good versus evil. It made Obito a bit nostalgic, but for things he regretted, and was determined to change. Whether the Bakashi helped him or not. (seriously, though, why _wouldn't_ he want to change it all!)

Finally, Obito attempted to take Minato-sensei out, launching a full frontal assault. Sensei seemed to almost shake his head at him, but when he went to grab Obito, his hand went straight through. Surprised, he only just reacted in time for when Obito ended up behind him, using kawarimi to change their positions, and then Obito was the one with a kunai at his back.

"How on earth did you _do_ that?" Sensei asked.

"What do you mean?" Obito asked, falsely innocent. "Oh, you mean when you went right through me?"

Minato-sensei nodded and Obito shrugged. "Intangibility," he said. "I got it when I awakened my sharingan."

Sensei smiled then, looking quite pleased. "Well," he said. "It's certainly a technique that will come in handy in battle."

Oh, he had _no idea_. And hopefully never would.

They all gathered together once again, with Minato-sensei lecturing them all on the importance of team work, before letting them all go. Kakashi disappeared immediately, then Sensei, and Obito offered to walk Rin home. Once that was done, he headed home, in the direction of the Uchiha compound, but before he could even get there, there was a kunai at his throat and he was shunshined away.

**So what did you think? Review please!**


	3. Chapter 3

**New chapter! Yay! So, I think I should mention, I really want this to be a bit more light-hearted (and hopefully funny) fic than most of my others. Not that the others are all angst filled or whatnot. And not that there won't be a few angsty moments in _this_ one.**

**Disclaimer that I don't own the Naruto verse!**

**Chapter Three**

As soon as they landed, Obito pushed away, then turned to glare at his 'kidnapper'.

"What the heck, Bakashi?" he yelled. "What was that for?"

"Shut up," Kakashi said, and the fierce look in his eyes had Obito gulping, though he'd forever deny it. "I want to know what the _hell_ is going on, and how you apparently _knew_ that I was going to… be here too."

Obito sighed. "Well, it all started like this…"

He cocked his head and stared up at the sky…

_Epic Flashback…_

"_Well," Rin said. "That was certainly something else."_

_Obito and Rin were standing in a kind of white space, having arrived here just after they'd watched Kakashi and his team seal Kaguya and Zetsu for good. Naruto and Sasuke had saved the day, and the Sage of Six Paths had made sure they'd made it out of that dimension in time. After that, everything had gone white for them._

"_Yeah, it's not every day you can say that a knuckle-head and an angst-ridden Uchiha put the beat-down on an insane goddess."_

"_And don't forget Sakura," Rin said. "I don't know if _I_ could have ever punched a goddess in the face."_

"_Of course you could have, Rin!" Obito affirmed. "I'm sure of it!"_

_Rin blushed prettily under the praise, then the two of them looked around. "Well, what do you suppose we do now?" she wondered._

"_I dunno?" Obito kinda, sorta asked, but also stated. "Maybe ask someone for directions to the Pure Lands?"_

_The two of them looked around at the empty, white space around them. "There's no one else here," Rin said._

"_That is not entirely accurate," a voice spoke, and Obito did _not_ squeal like a girl and start._

"_Who're you!" he demanded, even as he turned to see someone he'd only ever glimpsed once on a carving in an ancient temple wall._

_(Zetsu had told him something they needed was there, but to this day, Obito still had no idea why he'd needed _that_)_

"_The Sage of Six Paths," he breathed…_

"Hold up, wait a moment," Kakashi interrupted, just like the sound of a record forcefully stopped short. "The _Sage_ sent us back here?"

"Bakashi!" Obito protested. "You ruined my epic flashback!"

Kakashi just gave him one of _those_ looks, so Obito sighed and got back to the story…

_Epic Flashback, continued…_

_Rin looked at the Sage, glanced back to Obito, then back to the Sage. She bowed low and greeted, "It's an honour to meet you."_

_Obito awkwardly bowed as well. "Uh, yeah, and honour, sir," he said._

"_I have come before you now for a reason," the Sage said. "Due to the circumstances of your existence, young Uchiha, I have consulted with Others, and we have seen fit to offer you a most prestigious opportunity."_

_Obito and Rin glanced curiously at one another, then Obito asked, "What kind of opportunity?"_

"_One which would see you go back and retake your life," the Sage said. "You would be able to assure that things did not progress as they did before, you would essentially live your life over once more."_

_Obito gaped. "What the heck?" he sputtered. "Wait, would that be like living in an alternate universe or something?"_

_The Sage shook his head. "It would be your original time line," he told him. "Only from the moment you woke as who you are now, the time lines would diverge, and a new one would be created. The one you recently departed would remain, it is already firmly embedded in the annals of time itself. This, young Uchiha, is an opportunity not many are given, and those, not generally for the same reasons. You must see this opportunity as more of a chance for redemption for your soul. Of course, you are free not to take it."_

_Obito was stumped silent for a moment, then he asked, "Could… could Rin come too?"_

_Rin looked at the Sage hopefully, but the old man shook his head. "Because her death was tied to one of the tailed beasts, she cannot be afforded this opportunity," he said. "But there is another whom I can send along with you."_

"_Who?" was Obito's curious question._

_The Sage chuckled. "I cannot say at this moment," he said. "But I am sure that you would discern it easily enough, once they arrive."_

"_What does _that_ bit mean?"_

"_It means simply that you will arrive in the past before they do," the Sage said. "Now, Uchiha Obito. Do you accept this opportunity presented to you, or do you not?"_

_End of Epic Flashback…_

"And you agreed, just like that?" Kakashi demanded.

"Are you kidding me?" Obito huffed. "I _refused_! But after a whole bunch of arguing, Rin convinced me to give it a go. And now that I _am _back here, I'm gonna make damned sure that everything goes right, even if it means that I have to end up back in that kami-forsaken cave, just so I can _kill_ those bastards!"

"There's absolutely _no way_!" Kakashi growled at him. "You are _not_ going back to that madman!"

"Do you have another idea?" Obito asked. "_You're_ the genius here, Bakashi. _You_ tell me what we should do, then. What's your grand plan?"

"I don't know," Kakashi reluctantly admitted. "I… I've been trying to figure that out. But I'll think of something, something that _doesn't_ require you _sacrificing _yourself again!"

"Well, we've got a little over a year until the mission, Bakashi," Obito said. "Unless you can come up with something better, we're going with _my_ plan."

Before Kakashi could object again, Obito used his kamui to teleport out of there.

OoOoO

The Uchiha compound was lively with activity. As Obito walked through the streets, he determinedly focused on the fact that they were all here, alive and well, instead of on the fact that he _knows_ that he was the one who slit Giichi the potter's throat, and that the woman who ran the bread shop was one of the few who'd woken from the genjutsu, and her scream…

No. _No_. He'd promised himself (and more importantly, _Rin_) when he'd come back, there'd be no guilt tripping, no moaning and moping over what had happened in that _other_ time. This one… well, things would be _different_ here. He slunk through the compound streets, big smile on his face as he rather deliberately _ignored_ that painful feeling in his gut.

After all, denial was something he was good at, even _before_ he deluded himself with the infinite tsukuyomi.

"Obito-nii!" a voice called, and Obito turned, a more genuine smile on his face this time as a five year old, dragging a small toddler along with him, came running.

"Shisui-nii, you're too fast," an absolutely adorable chibi Itachi whined.

"If you wanna be a ninja, you gotta move fast," Shisui told him, then turned back to Obito. "Obito-nii, you promised me dango when you got back from training today!"

"Oh, did I?" Obito mused playfully. "Hmm. I don't seem to recall that."

Shisui's jaw dropped and his face became one of pure horror and betrayal. "You so did too!" he exclaimed, pointing accusingly at him, and Obito couldn't help but chuckle.

"Alright, alright," he said. "I'll get you some dango. Itachi too? Or does he need to go home?"

"He can come, he can come!" Shisui exclaimed, then turned to his little cousin. "You want dango, 'Tachi?" he asked.

Itachi frowned, and it was absolutely adorable. "Tou-san said dango will rot my brain," he said.

"Nu-uh, it won't!" Shisui declared, then turned back to Obito, holding his hand out. "Come on, Obito-nii!"

Obito let out a put-upon sigh. "Alright," he said, grabbing Itachi up and hoisting him onto his back, then grabbing Shisui's hand. "Let's go. I got some _real good_ mission pay yesterday, and I think there's enough left for a few dango each."

Shisui cheered and Itachi held on tight as they moved. This time, _this time_, Obito was determined to protect his family, no matter what it took.

_Shimura Danzou_, he thought. _Once Madara and Zetsu are out of the way, I'm coming for you._

**So what did you think? Review please!**


	4. note of adoption

Hi y'all! So, terrible news… I'm abandoning this author profile. :(

_But… _I'm going to post on a fresh, new one! :) In fact, I've already started. It's just that I've got so many fics on here, unfinished and whatnot, and I quite often feel overwhelmed by how much I haven't completed, and it makes me procrastinate like _heck_. So, in the interest of my sanity, I'm dumping it all.

Well, almost all.

Every fic I'm updating with this author note is up for a free-for-all adoption. The only thing I ask is that you keep each chapter the same (or merge them if you want the shorter chapter fics to be longer) with no rewrites, and make sure to credit that you're adopting it from me. If you have any questions, feel free to pm me, I'll still be keeping an eye on this profile. Besides, I disabled pm'ing on the other one.

There are some fics that I _won't_ be adopting out, no matter that they're not complete. Ones like Katana and Earthly Attachment, which are my _babies_. And there are a few that I still plan on continuing under the new pen name, like Petrichor and Ghosts. None of my Sailor Moon fics will be up for adoption, either. This will mostly just be Naruto and Code Geass. And possibly Narnia, I'm still undecided on that.

Anyway, I hope you won't be too put out. Sorry about this, but I really believe this is the only way I can continue writing, and still keep my sanity. :D

EDIT: The new profile is thatsnotmyname32. Just fanfiction for now, I'll get to AO3 soon.


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